Just four weeks out from King Charles’ coronation, and after weeks of indecision that reportedly left organizers pulling their hair out, Prince Harry has confirmed he will attend his father’s big day—but not with his wife, Meghan Markle.
In a statement released Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said it was “pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”
Harry’s confirmation came nine days after the cutoff for RSVPs, and after palace observers and unnamed sources had huffed to news outlets that the couple’s indecision was “rude” and causing “massive headaches.”
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As The Daily Beast reported, insiders at the palace strongly suspected that both Harry and Meghan would show up on the day, even as sources in their camp kept telling outlets like the Daily Mirror that “no decision” had been made.
Last week, as the April 3 RSVP date came and went, the couple was still reportedly trying to make up their minds. A source told the Mirror: “They [Harry and Meghan] still haven’t confirmed either way. Of course they will be afforded extra time but in all honesty, everyone is exasperated with them.”
Palace sources told the Mirror at the time that they would continue to make plans on the assumption the Sussexes would attend “unless advised otherwise.”
One source told the Mirror: “It’s all very frantic, complete chaos to be frank. There is a plan, which is supposed to be the blueprint of how the day should operate, but things are changing daily which is causing massive headaches.”
Meanwhile Robert Jobson, author of a new book on Charles, Our King, told TalkTV shortly before Buckingham Palace’s Wednesday announcement: “They have been given an RSVP, they have missed that deadline. It’s getting a little rude now to say the least. You are either going to support your dad on his moment of destiny or you are not. But don’t just keep everyone guessing because that then creates the whole tabloid speculation, which is basically saying it’s all about them, and frankly it is not all about them, it really isn’t.”
There is increasing evidence that enthusiasm for the coronation is failing to ignite the British populace, amid suspicion that the palace has compressed the coronation procession route to avoid a thin crowd. The route will be 1.3 miles, a quarter of the distance covered by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
One sign of trouble ahead could be a column by the writer Allison Pearson, who wrote in the usually fiercely loyal Daily Telegraph: “As a monarchist, I really want to be excited about the coronation, but it’s proving a struggle…you do wonder whether the Palace is concerned about a low turn-out. Certainly, a number of devout Elizabethans I know, who always stood along the Mall waving Union flags for the big occasions, are experiencing the first stirrings of anti-Royalist sentiment as our new king diverges from his mother who, with unimpeachable discretion, managed to be a symbol of unity and stability for 70 years.”
A recent YouGov poll for anti-monarchy pressure group Republic found that as the date of King Charles’ coronation is inching closer, only 15 percent of participants said they were “very interested” in the coronation.
